Oakes, ND

Oakes is Dickey County's largest city, laid out in 1886 where stagecoach and railroad routes met about a mile east of the James River. The city took its name from Thomas F. Oakes, a Northern Pacific Railroad president, and rail still shapes the local economy. Two 110-car grain elevators handle the surrounding corn-and-soybean agriculture, while the Dickey County Heritage Center and Historical Park preserve a Soo Line caboose, depot, one-room schoolhouse, 1891 church, and 1909 bridge. Paul Klinger Park gives the city a municipal green space, and Oakes Public School and Oakes High School keep K-12 education in town. Oakes is a southeastern North Dakota rail-and-grain city where the old station, the elevators, and the heritage park still line up on the same map.